off topic, bloom / flower / back yard

Michael Mace michaelcmace@gmail.com
Sat, 08 Feb 2014 20:54:38 PST
Brian wrote: 

>>But, please, what is the U.S.A. English term for the British back yard????

I'm pretty sure there is no term for that in American English. The term
"yard" in California (and I think most of the US) means all of the lot that
is not occupied by the house, including the lawn(s), vegetable garden,
patio, swimming pool, lighted basketball court, barbecue, greenhouse, and
parking area for the motorhome. There is no concept of a separate work area,
probably because there is no standard layout for an American backyard. Some
homes have extensive landscaping (what I think you'd call gardens) around
them, while many have little or none. The area behind a house is especially
diverse, because it's not on public display. The backyard may be given over
entirely to storage of used automobile parts, or to illegal housing for
extended family members, or to a ham radio tower, or may be just a patch of
dirt where the dogs run around.
	
Since there's no standard layout, there is no term I know of for particular
sub-parts of the yard. It's all just yard.

Sorry.

Mike
San Jose, CA





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